1
as in democratic
of, relating to, or favoring political democracy
having rid itself of the yoke of colonialism, the new nation chose to be a self-ruling state
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in independent
not being under the rule or control of another
was granted special status as a self-ruling province
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Recent Examples of self-ruling
Not only that, but Greenland, a self-ruling territory of Denmark, lacks the infrastructure and manpower required to make this mining dream a reality.
—
Matt Egan, CNN Money, 12 Jan. 2026
Like Assad before him, Sharaa now faces complex negotiations toward bringing these self-ruling territories under his command.
—Tom O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2025
The dispute began when Takaichi, who was elected last month, told lawmakers that a hypothetical Chinese attack on self-ruling Taiwan, which at its closest point is about 70 miles from Japanese territory, could threaten Japan’s survival and trigger a military response from Tokyo.
—Peter Guo, NBC news, 25 Nov. 2025
In recent years, Beijing has ramped up economic, diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan – a self-ruling democracy the Chinese Communist Party claims as its own despite having never governed it.
—Eric Cheung, CNN, 13 Mar. 2023
In a meeting earlier with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Raisi expressed support for China's crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong and claim to self-ruling democratic Taiwan.
—Bradford Betz, Fox News, 17 Feb. 2023
Matt Egan, CNN Money, 12 Jan. 2026
Like Assad before him, Sharaa now faces complex negotiations toward bringing these self-ruling territories under his command.
—Tom O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2025
The dispute began when Takaichi, who was elected last month, told lawmakers that a hypothetical Chinese attack on self-ruling Taiwan, which at its closest point is about 70 miles from Japanese territory, could threaten Japan’s survival and trigger a military response from Tokyo.
—Peter Guo, NBC news, 25 Nov. 2025
In recent years, Beijing has ramped up economic, diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan – a self-ruling democracy the Chinese Communist Party claims as its own despite having never governed it.
—Eric Cheung, CNN, 13 Mar. 2023
In a meeting earlier with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Raisi expressed support for China's crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong and claim to self-ruling democratic Taiwan.
—Bradford Betz, Fox News, 17 Feb. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-ruling
Adjective
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But Indra Hang Subba, a parliamentary legislator from Sikkim, says such delays are inherent to India's democratic system.—
Omkar Khandekar,
NPR,
17 Feb. 2026
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Currently, there's no democratic counterweight.—
Dana Taylor,
USA Today,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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As talented journalists go independent on Substack and YouTube and other legacy publications like The New York Times lean into personalization in nearly every element of their business, The Economist has resisted change.—
Max Tani,
semafor.com,
23 Feb. 2026
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With an independent test data set for release, the coming weeks may determine whether Donut Lab’s claims mark a genuine breakthrough or another chapter in the long and difficult quest to commercialize solid-state batteries.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Leaders now want to determine how autonomous logistics platforms support routine operations, not just experimental trials.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
17 Feb. 2026
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The technologies already implemented span a spectrum from predictive models that calculate simple risk scores to agentic AI that promises autonomous decision-making—enabling systems to titrate a patient’s oxygen flow or reprioritize an ER triage queue with little human input.—
Hilke Schellmann,
Scientific American,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Other backers of Paramount’s WBD bid include the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
17 Feb. 2026
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The initiative is also poised to incentivize an additional $150 billion in spending across server manufacturing, sovereign cloud platforms, and supporting industries, the company said.—
Sam Meredith,
CNBC,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Alan Cumming briefly paused Sunday's BAFTA Film Awards on two separate occasions to address the expletives and racial slur that Tourette's syndrome advocate John Davidson yelled during the telecast, according to reports.—
Pamela Avila,
USA Today,
23 Feb. 2026
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Hottovy pointed out that for years, things like PFPs, bullpens, time in the lab were all separate and not treated as workload.—
Sahadev Sharma,
New York Times,
22 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Self-ruling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-ruling. Accessed 24 Feb. 2026.
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